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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bass · staff · kick · fall · straw · tear · wound · branch

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. staff — employees
  5. branch — a division
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. wound — an injury
  8. bass — the fish
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. fall — to drop
  11. wound — an injury
  12. bass — low music
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. tear — from crying
  16. fall — the season
  17. staff — employees
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. tear — to rip
  20. staff — a stick
  21. tear — from crying
  22. fall — to drop
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. kick — in football

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com